Alastair Cook dispels gloom with show of steel in Test best century

A test best score of 160 for Alastair Cook, but maybe not the "daddy"
his Essex mentor Graham Gooch desired.

Ready, steady, Cook: Alastair Cook cuts the ball away on his way to a memorable century in DurhamPhoto: GETTY IMAGES

By Steve James

8:58PM BST 16 May 2009

"Make it a big one, make it a daddy" Gooch advises all those fortunate enough to pass the century mark. Where fatherhood begins is uncertain, but doubtless a double century was in Cook's sights yesterday.

So he will be disappointed. As will team director Andy Flower. England's batsmen simply do not score enough double hundreds (just five since 2000, compared with India's 17 and the nine of both South Africa and Australia). And Flower knows it. Quite rightly it irks him.

A gentle word might be in order. "You didn't fancy a double hundred then?" as Duncan Fletcher once observed to me. Cook's 214 against Australia in a two-day friendly in 2005 does not count. His highest score for Essex is the 195 made against Northamptonshire in 2005.

That said, it is no time to upbraid Cook too much. Curiously, praise appears rather begrudging of him these days. "God, he's dull," commented somebody last Wednesday, "His batting and his personality are both dull, dull."

It was a slow day, but that is harsh in the extreme. Sometimes we expect too much from our sportspeople. First Cook's personality. I find him bright and engaging. Yes, his press conferences are cliche-ridden but for that there must be some sympathy. He would doubtless have been a more rounded individual had he attended university in these parts, as once intended. But times have changed. The money is not merely tempting, it is simply irresistible. As it was for a premature autobiography, released last year. It is not a thrilling tome, but at least it is better than Monty Panesar's.

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Secondly, Cook's batting. It is clearly not fashionable. Pragmatism oozes from every shot. There is more frippery in a monastery. And it is not pretty. Bat and pad arriving at the ball at the same time ensure that. Cook often plays 'on the walk' as they say. His is a constant battle to prevent his head falling towards gully, to avoid defending towards extra cover as opposed to straight down the pitch, to stop leaving his front foot planted after initial trigger movements (as he did to yesterday's opening ball from Fidel Edwards).

But he remains composed. Beneath the genial exterior is a steely will. And just check the stats. Nine Test centuries and an average of 45 at the tender age of 24 is some feat. Since his stunning 60 and 104 not out on debut in Nagpur in 2006, he has performed. He has not been maintained on promise. Others have been found wanting, he has kept producing. Records have tumbled.

Before a hundred in Barbados last winter Cook had gone 27 innings without a Test century. He still averaged 37 during that period, mind. If that is to be the extent of his travails, then glory be. Unlike many of the great players, it may be that he does not require a second coming. He has never been dropped from Test cricket.

One-day cricket is, of course, a different matter. But his exclusion from that might actually be a blessing. Time off the international treadmill is often a boon. With Andrew Strauss reinstated at the top of the 50-over order, there is no room for both. But surely Cook's time will come. He is too good for that not to happen. I did once see him smash 46 off 23 balls in a reduced, 10-over county match.

Yesterday's innings was typical Cook. The scoring areas square of the wicket remain the same. Edwards dropped short and Cook cut authoritatively. Straying onto his pads is a perilous business: he tucks in there like Billy Bunter at meal times. Not that Cook shares his fitness levels. Quite the opposite. At the National Performance Centre in Loughborough there is an endurance circuit periodically undertaken by England's players. The last time I looked the record holder was Cook.

Cook's best shot of the day was the extra cover drive from Jerome Taylor that took him past his previous best, the 139 not out made in Barbados. His worst was his last, a leading edge off Sulieman Benn from way outside off stump. It is usually the way.